Sorry...I don't believe this....the store was already under investigation..I think they knew they were under investigation and changed their minds at the last minute and then reached out to try to find the winner..well..the planted winner...yeah right...

The man had turned in a ticket for the top prize in the Wild West Poker Scratchers game. Players have a one in 1,196,120 chance of winning the $75,000 prize, according to the lottery's website for the game.

So, the lottery inspector just happened to have a big winner!? Aren't lottery employees prohibited from playing? My next concern is how in the hell did the lottery inspecter get a winning ticket? I want people to think about that for a long while. Actually I think they just outed themselves since they seem to be able to come up with a winning ticket on the fly to investigate these places.

The man had turned in a ticket for the top prize in the Wild West Poker Scratchers game. Players have a one in 1,196,120 chance of winning the $75,000 prize, according to the lottery's website for the game.

So, the lottery inspector just happened to have a big winner!? Aren't lottery employees prohibited from playing? My next concern is how in the hell did the lottery inspecter get a winning ticket? I want people to think about that for a long while. Actually I think they just outed themselves since they seem to be able to come up with a winning ticket on the fly to investigate these places.

I cant believe some of the comments on here at times.

This was not the undercover agents personal ticket. It was part of the inspections he does to make sure that the people are not getting fleeced by the retailer like we here about so many times. He was working for the state and checking out different retailers.

This was not the undercover agents personal ticket. It was part of the inspections he does to make sure that the people are not getting fleeced by the retailer like we here about so many times. He was working for the state and checking out different retailers.

Careful Atoz- You keep making comments that make perfect sense and you will be labeled a Hater... As someone once said.

People who say it cannot be done should not interrupt those who are doing it- George Bernard Shaw.

This was not the undercover agents personal ticket. It was part of the inspections he does to make sure that the people are not getting fleeced by the retailer like we here about so many times. He was working for the state and checking out different retailers.

Do you believe everything the government tells you? I can't believe people won't look into how the lottery inspector just happened to pull a big 75,000 ticket. ( yes the clerk was in the wrong ) However it does put a spotlight on how the lottery investigation services came up with the ticket in the first place.

Do you believe everything the government tells you? I can't believe people won't look into how the lottery inspector just happened to pull a big 75,000 ticket. ( yes the clerk was in the wrong ) However it does put a spotlight on how the lottery investigation services came up with the ticket in the first place.

Careful Pick- You keep making comments like that and people will think you never travel outside your trailer Park, let alone your State.

People who say it cannot be done should not interrupt those who are doing it- George Bernard Shaw.

Do you believe everything the government tells you? I can't believe people won't look into how the lottery inspector just happened to pull a big 75,000 ticket. ( yes the clerk was in the wrong ) However it does put a spotlight on how the lottery investigation services came up with the ticket in the first place.

It's a little embarrassing to have to explain something so simple, but here goes.

The inspector didn't just happen to pull a $75000 ticket. The commission had this ticket made for the express purpose of testing a retailer. It was not a real winning ticket. It wasn't even a real ticket. It never was put out for sale. Lottery commissions do this all the time to make sure retailers aren't stealing from customers. Which is a real good thing.

The search is on for a lottery winner in California who walked away with a much smaller prize than he actually won.

A man who went to cash out his Wild West Poker scratch-off lottery ticket at a Palmdale, California, gas station was given $75, but his ticket was actually worth $75,000.

Officials are trying to track down the man who went into a Palmdale store and was thousands of dollars short of his winnings.

Shamsun Hahar Islam, the Palmdale gas station manager, said the cashier misread the numbers on the machine.

"He gave the ticket to my cashier, and the cashier, he put it in the machine. And it looks like a 75 because he's focusing on the 75. He didn't focus on the zero," Islam said.

The man just took his money and left, and that's when the cashier realized his mistake.

The cashier called Islam right away. Russ Lopez with the California Lottery said he was contacted and the organization is conducting a slow, but thorough investigation.

"We have been contacted, but we haven't had enough time to get all the answers," said Russ Lopez of the California State Lottery.

The winner turned in the ticket March 25 but didn't sign the back of the ticket — so the recently released surveillance video is playing a big part in identifying him.

"If he cannot claim, then it goes back to the lottery company. I feel bad. I feel bad. I want to give him the ticket," Islam said.

The winner has six months to claim the full prize.

FLASH: "Winner" was actually undercover inspector

In a sudden twist of events, the California Lottery announced Monday that the "winner" of the $75,000 scratch-off prize was actually an uncover inspector for the lottery, and the Palmdale gas station has been placed under investigation.

The gas station released surveillance video of the purported winner on Sunday in an effort to identify the man and reward him his rightful earnings, the station's manager said.

But the video actually shows an undercover investigator from the California Lottery on an inspection stop, according to Russell Lopez, a deputy director for the lottery.

"This is an odd situation," Lopez said. "We don't want the public looking for a winner that doesn't exist."

So on Monday, lottery officials were forced to acknowledge the man seen in the video was an undercover compliance investigator and the gas station a current target of a state investigation.

Taken from behind the register, the video shows a man in a brown short-sleeved shirt and a backwards baseball cap waiting as the clerk examines the ticket and hands over cash. The interaction, which appears to take a few minutes, occurred March 25 at a Chevron station on Sierra Highway at East Avenue S.

"Since the store held onto the ticket, it appears the ticket was mishandled," Lopez said in a brief statement. "We are currently investigating this case."

Chevron station manager Shamsun Islam said the clerk realized his mistake after the apparent ticket-holder left.

The man had turned in a ticket for the top prize in the Wild West Poker Scratchers game. Players have a one in 1,196,120 chance of winning the $75,000 prize, according to the lottery's website for the game.

"He feels so bad," Islam said of the clerk.

The clerk immediately called Islam, who in turn called her boss, who instructed her to call California Lottery officials. Shamsun said lottery officials said someone would come by to pick up the ticket.

After several weeks, when no one appeared, she reached out to news media to try to find the man she believed was owed $75,000.

No determination has been made as to the intent of the gas station clerk or manager, Lopez said. He told the Los Angeles Times that officials were trying to determine if authorities were ever notified about the ticket, and if any fraud was committed.

Until Shamsun went public with the surveillance video, officials had been waiting to see if anyone would try to file a claim on the $75,000, the Times reported.

Islam, meanwhile, urged lottery players to always fill out the fields for name and contact information on their tickets.

This was a honest mistake. When the manger, called the California Lottery official, the lottery official said someone would come by to pick up the ticket. The manger when to the new media to try to find the real winner. I have to say he did all he could have done. There no ground to fraud here. My only question is this. Since the California Lottery officials used a top prize ticket to this game to try to entrap this station manager then that prize is no longer available for the real players of the game what are they going to do about this?

Careful Pick- You keep making comments like that and people will think you never travel outside your trailer Park, let alone your State.

Making ASSumptions like that doesn't doesn't give you a moral high ground to talk smack. If you and your new buddy have a problem the way I am looking at things, then tell us how the lottery inspector got a 75,000 ticket to investigate the place.

This was a honest mistake. When the manger, called the California Lottery official, the lottery official said someone would come by to pick up the ticket. The manger when to the new media to try to find the real winner. I have to say he did all he could have done. There no ground to fraud here. My only question is this. Since the California Lottery officials used a top prize ticket to this game to try to entrap this station manager then that prize is no longer available for the real players of the game what are they going to do about this?

Yes!! Finally someone else points it out.

Since the California Lottery officials used a top prize ticket to this game to try to entrap this station manager then that prize is no longer available for the real players of the game what are they going to do about this?

Since the California Lottery officials used a top prize ticket to this game to try to entrap this station manager then that prize is no longer available for the real players of the game what are they going to do about this?

Watch out cbr$ my haters might not like you pointing that out.

The ticket was not real.

It was never put out for sale.

It was given to the inspector by the commission to test the retailer.

It was not meant to entrap the retailer. But to see if the retailer would try to cheat the inspector.

Since the California Lottery officials used a top prize ticket to this game to try to entrap this station manager then that prize is no longer available for the real players of the game what are they going to do about this?

Watch out cbr$ my haters might not like you pointing that out.

In case you have not noticed-l live in California.The lottery outfit out here, not in other States does this all the time when a store has been on their radar.We are the most populous State and it puts up Billions of dollars towards the jackpots. .It's only right that our Lottery Officials weed out suspected shady stores..Don't you guys have these operations in your State?..l guess not.

People who say it cannot be done should not interrupt those who are doing it- George Bernard Shaw.